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why I love the wiggles

Wow, has it really been over a year or so since I’ve done a review or top 10? Anyway, I figured I should do something a little different this time around, and this idea has been floating around in my head for a while, so here we go!

As someone who’s 13, I’m generally considered to be “too old” to enjoy The Wiggles, as are all of my friends in this community. So why do we still listen to their music and watch their shows? While I can’t speak for everyone, I can certainly tell you why I still love The Wiggles.

I was introduced to The Wiggles in late 2006, when I recieved Dance Party (Big Red Car) on VHS for my birthday. I apparently hated it upon my first viewing (according to my mom anyway), but the more I watched it over the next year or so the more I grew to love it. It was so simplistic, yet so catchy and fun. I can’t even begin to describe how mesmerized I was any time I popped in that tape, and once I got Toot Toot!, I was officially hooked. The visuals weren’t much more elaborate, but it was still so bright and colorful I couldn’t look away, and the songs were as pleasing to the ears as ever. After that, The Wiggles essentially became my life for a few years. Every time we would go to the store, I’d look for a new tape. Every time we’d go to the library, I would take out a CD and listen to it nonstop for that week I had it. I had no idea why I loved them so much, but I did, and there was nothing more to it, and really there didn’t need to be.

But after a while, I started to grow out of them, I was discovering other shows, other music, and I just didn’t need The Wiggles in my life anymore. There was even a brief phase of a couple years where I was in denial that I ever liked them, saying stuff like “Oh, they’re too childish, anyone who likes that stuff is a baby!” Boy, was I wrong. Once the new generation rolled around, I gave Taking Off! a listen, out of curiosity’s sake. As soon as I did it hit me. I realized what was so appealing to me about The Wiggles, what was so appealing to all their fans, young and old. Everything about them, their music, their videos, their TV series, they’re all handled with the perfect amount of care, as The Wiggles themselves are naturals at what they do. Whether they have elaborate sets, or nothing but colored backdrop, they make sure all the work they put into it is perfect, and it sure pays off. They’re masters of their craft, and they don’t need any special gimmicks tacked on.

But what is it that makes them so good? Well, as I later learned, Murray, Anthony, and Greg were educated in, well, childhood education. They learned how to act around young, preschool age kids, what their interests are, what helps them learn. After coming together to form the group, they took what they found and applied it. And it was their knowledge of what kids like that helped them develop their writing and musical styles.

And yes, believe it or not, you don’t have to be a kid to enjoy their music. There’s something in it that just makes it so appealing overall, and I think it is their sound. Whenever I listen to another kids group, it always seems overproduced. I don’t know, it just doesn’t sound natural, like they have a set of songwriters and musicians on standby trying to imitate The Wiggles’ style, and it doesn’t seem right. Even with Play Along with Sam and Butterscotch’s Playground, Sam and Greg’s voices are as good as ever, but the music backing it all sounds the same to me, and like it was all made in GarageBand or with a couple expensive keyboards with different instrument settings. Not that it’s bad, I think it all sounds fine for what it is, but The Wiggles exceed it on every level.

The consistency in quality from 1991 to now just astounds me. Even The Beatles, the arguable best band in history, didn’t start out that way. As time went on they progressed, they got better, they improved their craft, and their legacy grew. But The Wiggles started out as amazing as they could possibly be, and even as members have come and gone, they haven’t changed one bit as a whole. You could argue they peaked around 1998, or they’ve gotten worse since 2007 or 2013, but if you really pay attention to the songwriting and the instrumentation, it really hasn’t changed. I could play a song from 1992 and 2006, and chances are you wouldn’t really notice any real difference, beyond what instruments they may have used or what people are doing backing vocals.

Are The Wiggles perfect songwriters, or the best musicians in the world? No, and I’m sure they never will be. They’re the best in their business, and are amazing entertainers for those of all ages, young and old. And really that’s all I can ask for. And that’s why I love The Wiggles.

[accamluafris]

my top 5 favorite beatles’ albums

So, it’s a new year, so let’s talk about a new band. Well, not exactly “new”, they’re one of the oldest groups I’ve ever mentioned here, and I’ve even mentioned them a few times in my favorite non-Wiggles’ songs blog. Ah, whatever, The Beatles. A band commonly referred to as “the best band of all time”, and for good reason. Their music is far superior than the music today, and the impact they made on music forever changed the meaning of rock n’ roll and, well, music in general as we know it today. So, out of the thirteen albums they provided us with, which one of them is the best? I don’t know, everyone’s different, but here are my top five Beatles’ albums.

#5 - Revolver: As a member of The Beatles’ fan base, the more time has past, the more good rep. this album has got. Even just the other day, my uncle called me for my birthday and said “So, what’s your favorite Beatles’ album?” I replied: “I guess -keep reading, or scroll down if you’re that impatient-.” “That? I like Revolver.” And looking back at it, the attitude and intentions they had in this album are pretty good. They experimented with different techniques and effects, like reverse guitar and vocals, and sound effects. Unlike Sgt. Pepper, with this, it seems more like their attitudes were like: “Hey, let’s see what kind of stuff we can play around with that sounds good.”, while in Sgt. Pepper, they were more like: “Hey, let’s see what all we can get away with.” I’m not saying that’s bad, or anything, but their intentions of new ideas seemed much more pleasant than it did in Pepper. I give it an 8/10 stars. My favorite song off of it is Yellow Submarine. (Figures my favorite is a children’s song.)

#4 - Please Please Me: It’s surprising that The Beatles’ first album holds up as well as it does. Looking at most bands and groups, most of their first albums are just a mixture of good songs and failed attempts at ideas and singing techniques. But no, for the… day they had to record this album, they did a great job, well, besides John having a cold literally the entire time. Basically, if you’d like to know the backstory behind this album, it’s pretty much every original, and cover song you would’ve seen The Beatles sing in the Cavern Club in the early sixties. With eight originals, and six covers, this is still a great album, and is the home of many fan favorites, such as Love Me Do, and Twist and Shout. I give it a 9/10 stars. My favorite song off of it is Do You Want to Know a Secret.

#3 - Magical Mystery Tour: A great soundtrack to absolute crap. As the mid to late sixties were filling with hippies and psychedelic drugs, The Beatles were what Paul McCartney described “the spokesmen” of the generation. So given the success of their previous two films, a film in this entirely different period of the decade was inevitable. And given the Beatles’ creative control on the film, and also given marijuana and LSD, this TV movie was a critical failure, with 58% on Rotten Tomatoes as of now. But even though the film this revolves around is garbage, that doesn’t mean the soundtrack is. In fact, it’s the exact opposite of garbage. Not even mind-altering drugs can ruin The Beatles’ ability to write kicking songs. Made up mostly of songs from the film, and almost half of their singles, this album fails to disappoint, at least for me (I personally love the psychedelic era of the Beatles.) This songs offers the best, and the weirdest of the Beatles. From songs written on an acid trip, like I Am The Walrus, and the only song by The Beatles’ just about anyone can name off the top of their heads (All You Need Is Love), this is a fantastic soundtrack. I give it 9/10 stars. My favorite song off of it is Penny Lane, but my favorite from the actual movie is Blue Jay Way.

#2 - Rubber Soul - With most Beatles’ fans, this is either their favorite Beatles’ album, or a close second. In an attempt to get out of their pop-era and into a deeper songwriting era, The Beatles’ did just that, and like always, they did a fantastic job at it. Lyrically, these are some of the best songs performed by The Beatles. Comparing these to songs that they were previously known by, like Love Me Do, makes those songs look like scribbles in a toddler’s coloring book. As a matter of fact, this album holds my favorite Beatles’ song. There isn’t much else to talk about other than huge improvement in songwriting and how good the songs are. I give it a 10/10. My favorite song off of it is In My Life.

Now before I reveal my favorite Beatles’ album, and hopefully before you look down, here are some honorable mentions: Beatles For Sale - To most Beatles’ fans, this is described as one of The Beatles’ most boring albums. And while it may not add anything new, I still like it very much. It has a good balance of pop and rock. That, and the songs are just SO CATCHY. My favorite song off of it is Words Of Love (I’ll Follow The Sun if you want something that isn’t a cover.) Help - Another movie soundtrack, and ironically, I actually haven’t seen the movie. It’s the only one I haven’t watched. The songs off this one weren’t that memorable, but if you spent a few minutes in a Wigglemania call, and someone said “Help” on the littlest of subjects, you’d hear me, or someone else yell back “I NEED SOMEBODY!” My favorite songs off of it is I Need You.

#1 - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band: Hi there guests from #4 and other impatient people that skimmed all the way through this! Oh wait, that’s not the point of this paragraph. Dangit. Anyway, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is the album of all albums. Winning the #1 spot on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, this album is praised as much as it is for good reason. Rubber Soul may have taken The Beatles’ out of their mop-top era, but this took it to a whole new level. This album took everything The Beatles’ had tried previously (reversing tracks, adding sound effects) and ran with it. Not only that, but this seriously changed the way an album cover looks. Instead of just a generic photo of a band standing around, this was a photo of The Beatles’ in colorful suits around influential people of the past, and at that point, present. But enough about the impact of the album, let’s talk about the music. The music on the album is beyond phenomenal. It has everything you can expect from The Beatles’, rock and roll, pop, and soft, slow, but meaningful songs. It overall is a great experience to listen to, and changed music as we know it. I givea 10. My favorite song off of it is With A Little Help From My Friends.

Even though these albums are 50 years old, they hold up surprisingly well. People of all ages can relate, and like these songs. Being a big fan, or a casual fan of The Beatles, listening to them is still enjoyable, and can really tell what influences they put on modern music. If you haven’t already, you should consider sitting down and actually listening to a Beatles’ album one day, or watching one of their movies, and then you’ll see what true geniuses, and impacts they were in the world of music.

[accamluafris]

my thoughts on the barney and friends reboot

so, apparently, the long running children’s TV show Barney & Friends has been making its way back to the small screen. For most of the people I know who are still fans of Barney, they all seem pretty hyped about it, despite learning about it yesterday. Me myself, I’m not sure where I stand on this. But, I did notice one thing: from all the Barney fans I know, they don’t have a single things against this. They’re fans, I guess there isn’t much to be upset about for them, but I have a few questions and thoughts on this upcoming project, and here they are.

1: This all just seems like a big way to get cash. Around the time I was born, Hit Entertainment was really kicking butt. A few years prior to my birth, they had purchased Lyons’ Partnership, or commonly known as Lyrick Studios. They were most well known for creating the Barney and Friends franchise, and bringing The Wiggles into America. However, once they put Barney’s feature film, (Barney’s Great Adventure), into theaters, PolyGram Films, (the company that distributed the film), sued Lyrick for every penny they had, since that wasn’t apart of their film deal. In result, Lyrick sold themselves to Hit Entertainment, a company that originally helped them show Barney internationally. This was great for them. Sales on Barney merchandise and videos did great, and The Wiggles were doing great, too. Around the early 2000’s, Hit was the bomb. But around 2007, The Wiggles had moved on, and Barney was on its way out. By 2009, Barney & Friends had ceased production. But looking at children shows now a-days, reboots are the newest craze. With VeggieTales, Bob the Builder, and just recently the Teletubbies, we’ve been getting a lot of new versions of old shows. Honestly, I haven’t heard of a single new show Hit is running that’s popular, so I guess jumping on the reboot bandwagon for the show that made them famous would be a good way to make money. Then again, I’m not saying that’s justified. That is really all I see this as, way to make money. If Hit wanted to make money, they should make a new character of their own, not resurrecting a character they bought 15 years ago. But whatever makes the cash cow go “Moo”, I suppose.

2: Will this be the Barney we know and love? Looking at all the reboots we have to compare this to currently, they all have major costume and character design changes. And if Barney already fell on the bandwagon of rebooting his show, a new look wouldn’t surprise me. And honestly, I hate all the new looks. Take a gander at VeggieTales. Their new looks are beyond awful, and other shows new looks, like Bob The Builder, aren’t great, either. So seeing Barney different than he currently is may be something I won’t be able to get used to.

3. Will kids even care anymore? Most, if not all, of these rebooted shows I’ve seen are not getting anywhere near the same mainstream attention that they used to get. Barney had his time to shine; and that was in the 90’s, By 2005, I don’t remember anyone talking about Barney too much. So who knows how the reception of this new season will be?

I’ll be honest, the more I’ve looked into this reboot, the less hyped I’ve become. It all just seems like a big cash in to get an icon famous again and a way to capitalize on how many children shows are currently getting rebooted. The only real people I’ve seen excited about this idea are fans who used to like the show decades ago.

[accamluafris]

my top 10 favorite non-wiggles songs

considering I am a fan of The Wiggles, people tend to think that they’re the only people I listen to. In fact, that couldn’t be anymore wrong. In fact, if I were to rate my favorite music acts, The Wiggles would probably be ranked at number 6 or 7. I love them and all, but there is far better music in the world. And to prove it to you, here is a top 10 of my personal favorite songs that don’t have “The Wiggles” name slapped on them. (I’ll also give you a link to the song, in case you’d like to listen to the song for yourself.) Well, let’s get started.

10. Three Stars - Eddie Cochran (http://youtu.be/DhtYS-7hFM0)
Despite this being one of my favorite songs, every time I hear it, a tear runs down my cheek. The song is about a plane crash in the late 50’s, that had three of the biggest music stars at the time, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the Big Bopper on board. Everyone on the plane was killed, and the event became popularized as “The Day The Music Died”. Eddie Cochran, a close friend of both Ritchie and Buddy, was just starting to launch his music career at the time, and was shaken by this event. The result was this song. In the song, Eddie refers to the three singers as “three new stars in the sky”. You can hear him break down into tears talking about his lost friends. It’s a beautiful song, with a tragic backstory, and that’s why it has a place on this list.

9. I’m In Love With A Girl - Big Star (http://youtu.be/QIfPIwWn-vg) 
This is probably as simple as a song can get, but that’s not saying much. This song is by a band named “Big Star”, “the least luckiest band ever”. While they may not have lasted very long, the songs they made were fantastic. (You may know them for writing the theme song for That 70’s Show.) Any-who, this is just a simple song with no instruments but acoustic guitar and a guy singing about how much he loves his girl. It’s short, it’s sweet, and I love it. ‘Nuff said.

8. Yellow Submarine - The Beatles (http://youtu.be/e_cwWP5Qf1k) 
Here’s a more well known song on the list. It’s by a band we all know and love, The Beatles. Yellow Submarine is just a goofy children’s song off the album Revolver. The song was written by Paul for Ringo to sing, and Ringo really nailed this song. He did a fantastic job singing the lead vocals. In fact, The Beatles did some new things in the song that they had not done before. Rather than just instruments and vocals, sound affects were added to the song. You can hear a number of thing, the community of people in the submarine, sailers communicating with each other, and sounds of the submarine, and it really just adds the the kid-like atmosphere. It was so good, a cartoon film was made out of it, which I also recommend you check out, it’s fantastic!

7. In A Turkish Town - Ritchie Valens (http://youtu.be/FqdcHeZSogw)
I brand up Ritchie earlier in this report, he was one of the “three stars” who tragically passed away in the plane crash of 1959. At the time, he was only 17 years old, and was just finally making music, and was becoming a big star. As an artist, he didn’t make a lot of songs, but what he did record was fantastic, and this is no exception. Here’s “In A Turkish Town”, not a very well known song of his, but great nonetheless. He wrote this beautiful ballad after having a dream of being on a magic carpet. I don’t know much about the concept of this song, but it’s a fantastic melody, written by a fanatic man. (If you’re interested in Ritchie, he has a film about him, La Bamba, which is very good, too.)

6. Summertime Blues - Eddie Cochran (http://youtu.be/BiZyqrDN6Vc)Eddie also has the number 10 spot of this review, but here he is in one of his stronger suits. This is one of the songs than made Eddie famous, and for good reason. In the song, Eddie describes the struggles of a teenager trying to make money to have a fun summer, and it’s really written well. It’s got a great tune, and it really shows off the ability of Eddie Cochran.

5. If You Were Here - The Thompson Twins (http://youtu.be/po2ahzuziEw) 
Ah, the Thompson Twins. I was always made fun of by my cousins for being a fan of them around 4th grade, and looking back at them, I still enjoy their music, but they certainly are weird. Anyway, this is a very nice slow song, and makes an appearance at the end of the film 16 Candles, which is what it’s best known for. The song really fits the ending, and has been made iconic by the movie, and that’s okay with me.

4. Six Months In A Leaky Boat - Split Enz (http://youtu.be/lnZd08zKDec)
Okay, I’m aware that I’m sort of being a hypocrite by including this song, but I’m not talking about the Wiggles’ version of the song, I’m talking about the original 1982 release by the New Zealand band, Split Enz. (I just realized this song is more than 30 years old. 😳) And to be honest, this version is far superior than the version that is on Its A Wiggly, Wiggly World, but that one is good, too. I will say I know someone who personally hates this song, but only because of the backstory of someone who jammed this song through his head. I will say that the opening and ending are both drawn out and annoy me, but otherwise, great song.

3. Bluebirds Over The Mountain - Ritchie Valens (http://youtu.be/6yqQOhmq2Ls) 
This song is most well known by the cover by the Beach Boys, but my favorite version by far is the cover by Ritchie Valens. Ritchie’s voice match the song well, and the song really helps to relax me whenever I’m anxious or stressed out. If you have issues of any sort, I recommend laying down on your bed, turn this song on, and close your eyes, relax, and let all your problems float away. It sounds dumb, but it works.

2. Stairway To Heaven - Led Zeppelin (http://youtu.be/8pPvNqOb6RA)
This song really does put me in awe. I love this song with a passion. The lyrics are very well written, the tune is both catchy and memorable, and the transition from a folk song to a heavy rock-n-roll song song is amazing. Even Murray, the red Wiggle used to play a part of the song in shows during his “Music With Murray” segment.

Before we get to number one, let’s see some honorable mentions: Run Like Hell by Pink Floyd; Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows by Lesley Gore, no I’m not joking;
Life In A Northern Town by The Dream Academy, and I’m Looking Through You by The Beatles.

1. In My Life - The Beatles (http://youtu.be/UKQpRgxyyqo)
There words: Best. Song. Ever. This is a great song off a great album, and a song I respect a lot. In only three short years, The Beatles went from Love Me Do to this, and the change the Beatles made in music was definitely for the better. The Beatles’ music improved a lot after the Rubber Soul album, is this is the best song off the album. Ed Sheeran sang the song in front of Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono, and countless family members of the Beatles, and while he didn’t do bad, he didn’t bring anything new to the table, he didn’t do “bad”.

Well, there you go. Hopefully, I introduced you to some new music, and that I convinced you that The Wiggles’ music may not be everything.